Department of Justice

Two Men Plead Guilty to Stealing more than 70 Firearms from Gun Stores

CINCINNATI – Ronquieze Head, 36, and Seronte Newby, 30, both of Cincinnati, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to crimes related to theft from gun stores in Ohio and Kentucky.

Specifically, the defendants each pleaded to one count of conspiracy to commit theft and two counts of theft from a federal firearms licensee. Head also pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a stolen firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Trevor Velinor, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), announced the pleas entered into yesterday before U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning.

Head and Newby stole approximately 20 firearms from a gun store in Sharonville, Ohio on July 2, 2017. On July 8, 2017, the defendants stole approximately 22 firearms from a gun store in Florence, Ky. Finally, the pair stole approximately 32 weapons from a third gun store in Springboro, Ohio on July 16, 2017.

The defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2017.

Conspiracy to commit theft is punishable by up to five years in prison. Theft from a federal firearms licensee, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a stolen firearm are each crimes punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by ATF and Sharonville, Springfield, Florence, Springboro and Cincinnati police departments, as well as Assistant United States Attorneys Megan Gaffney and Matthew Singer, who are prosecuting the case.